Berrien County Officials Working On Budget

berriencountyadmin1-34
berriencountyadmin1-34

Berrien County’s budget for fiscal year 2021 is coming together as officials try to cope with increased costs during the pandemic and wonder what will happen next. Berrien County Administrator Brian Dissette told the Berrien County Board of Commissioners Thursday he’s been working with department heads to get costs down.

“There is no good playbook for your staff to put together a budget document that they can say to you won’t have multiple amendments,” Dissette said. “The playbook that we tried to use was to go as conservative as possible.”

Dissette said they’ve eliminated unfilled, but budgeted for, positions in the county, and capital improvements will be slowed down next year. He said the new budget has the county dipping into its fund balance, or savings, to the tune of $10 million.

“We are drawing this down in an effort to balance the budget, but we are still at a level that is very, very strong.”

The budget anticipates revenues of about $165 million and expenditures of about $175 million. The gap is closed when you factor in the $10 million from the fund balance. Dissette said it will be a lean year, but that’s not to say the county isn’t getting things done.